Tidal ob current hydbattlic bam



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.`

JOHN W. MIDDLETON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TIDAL OR CURRENT HYDRAULIC RAM.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 11,697, dated September 19, 1854.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Jol-IN W. l\IIDDLn'roN, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Engine for Elevating Water or Generating Motive Power, which I denominate a Tide and Current Ram, of which the following is a full, clear and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this speciication, and in which# Figure l represents a view in perspective of my engine; and Fig. 2 a vertical longitu- ,dinal section of the' same, having the floodgate closed; and Fig. 3 a similar section having the nood-gate open.

Hydraulic rams heretofore have been made with incline-dl supply pipes, which when practicable were arranged so as to coincide with the mathematical curve of quickest descent from the source of supply down to the point of discharge, and from this principle of construction it follows that the ram has only been rendered applicable to the elevation of water in connection with natural water falls, or dams.

It is the object of my invention to give the ram a new capacity by adapting it to the raising of water, or generating of power, independent of dams, and water falls, and simply by the force of currents whether produced by the iiow of rivers or tides. To this end I construct an immense level tube, large enough to form a tide way, or permit the Waters of a river to flow through it without materially retarding the current, and I place this tube on the bed of a river, harbor, or other channel through which a current flows; al very good size for many places for the current tube would be a diameter of tien feet, and one hundred feet in length, but it may be made of any other proportions that may be found more suitable, each constructor being left to the exercise of his own discretion on this point, only taking care to make his proportions as far as practicable, such as will impede the current the least.

If the ram is designed for a river where the current always ow's in one direction, I arrange at the end which lies down stream a flood gate which can be alternately closed or opened with promptness and facility, and

. with a view to diminish the strain produced by the sudden opening and closing of the gate, I propose to make it in numerous small sections, and in order that the flow of the water through the apertures of the gate may be as free as that through the tube, I eX- pand that part of the tube in which the gate is placed, so that the gate is considerably wider than the tube and the sum of the areas of its openings considerably more than the area of that of the tube. On the top of this chamber I place one or more valves that open upward into an air vessel or pipe. When the column of water moving forward through the pipe is interrupted by suddenly shutting the iood gate the momentum of the column will cause it to press forward for a short time with a force proportioned to its mass multiplied by its velocity creating an immense pressure, which will force a portion of the water at the front of the column up through the valves at the top of the chamber into the air vessel. When the current ceases to flow up through these valves, they close to prevent the descent of the water thus raised through them.

If the engine is to be placed in a tide way where the currents run daily in alternately opposite directions, then there must be a flood gate, rising-pipe, and valves, at each end of the tube which can be alternately worked, according to the direction in which the tide is running.

In the drawing which represents an engine to illustrate one of the many forms in which my invention may be applied, the tube (A) is made of sheets of wrought iron, ,such as are used for making steam boilers, and are united by rivets like the sheets in boilers. If necessary the tube may be strengthened by angle irons or otherwise. The flood-gate consists of a series of narrow strips (a) secured to a series of crank shafts (b) having their bearings in suitable boxes on the side of the chamber which are turned by a sector (c) into which they gear, and which oscillates a suicient distance to bring the several strips into line with a common curve or rather the perimeter of a polygon to whose sides they correspond, to stop the flow of water; or turn them horizontal to leave the waterway wide open; as the strips located in different parts of the curve, when closed stand at diiferent angles to a horizontal plane, the cranks (6') of the rock-shafts(b) are of different lengths, so that by a given movement of the sector (0,) there will be such a differential angular movement of the 110 strips (a) as will bring them respectively into the proper relative position.

The sector is connected by a link rod (e) with an arm (f) that turns on a pivot (g) at its upper extremity, and has a loaded Hoat (la), attached to its lower extremity. The load of this Hoat consists of a weight (i) in this example of metal which can be adjusted to a greater or less distance from the fulcrum; or, what would produce the same eHect, the weight might be made in sections, some of which could be removed to reduce the load, and again added to increase it. This Hoat should be of such size and weight `that when the current of water is issuing through the/Hood gate at the maximum ve locity, it will bear the Hoat up, which by rising will turn the arm (f) turn the sector (c) and cranks and thus shut the gate by closing the strips (a). When the gate has thus been shut the current through the same which raised the Hoat will be arrested, and the Hoatwill of course drop by its own gravity to reopen the gate again and reestablish the current; thus the current will be kalternately established and stopped at short intervals. f

In order that the Hood gate `may ybe promptly closed, each of the strips (a) is a little broader on the side of the axle which turns with the stream, so that the pressure will preponderate on that side on closing: this inequality in the two sides of the Hoat insures Vthe closing of the gate as long as the momentum of the water within` remains un` exhausted. This Hoat may be placed within the tube or chamber if preferred, and the mechanism vfor opening andclosing the Hood gate may be Varied in construction and arrangement to an almost yunlimited extent; so also the construction Vof the gate itself may be Varied, and the valves and rising pipe which discharge the water from the ram yinto any convenient conduit or receptacle,

may also be ,varied at pleasure, but to describe any considerable number of these obvious changes would extend thespecification to an unwarrantable length, therefore I omit such description. ,1 Having thus described my tide and eurrent ram what I claim therein `as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The combination of a weighted leve-r or Hoat witha series of narrow strips each A hinged at or near its middle so that the 'pressure of the water above and below the hinge may be nearly equal,these strips being arranged across the lower end of the tube to close and open it alternately substantially as herein speciHed.

2. I also claim thearrangement of the strips in a curve, and turning them in the 'act` P. H. WATSON, PETER HANNAY. 

